Amphibia Review: Little Frogtown / Hopping Mall

"Y'know, I've always wondered, can you miss someone you never actually knew?"

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This review is late enough, so let's just get right on into it! This week's episodes: "Little Frogtown" and "Hopping Mall." Who cried? It's okay. We'll get to that in a minute.

(Note: in light of being back in college and the lack of timeliness with this review, it will be shorter and less comprehensive. But you've seen the episodes already! You don't need me to help you with that side of things!)

"Little Frogtown" is perhaps the most keen Amphibia has ever been on prodding at the fourth wall, though under Hop Pop's voice, that's hardly a detriment. There's so little that can go wrong with a Hop Pop-led episode; he's the sort of character you could saddle with almost any premise and he'll make it work, so who better to take on the series' second big genre parody episode? (The first one, "Children of the Spore," was also notably led by him.) In this case, after Hop Pop discovers the Newtopia sandwich shop of his long-time friend abandoned and ransacked, he sets off to get to the bottom of his unexpected caper, and with the screen tinted to a grayscale and internal monologues abound, we're off to the races.

For however much of a fun edge the noir framework of "Little Frogtown" is, though, I feel like it could've pushed harder. The fun of the genre is in seeing how all of its pieces come together and prompt striking revelations, but the series of events in this episode feel a little too disconnected to fully emulate what Amphibia is trying to embrace. Hop Pop taking a clue to go to the Newtopian gala and then subsequently discovering the location of Sal's sauce distributor after being tossed in a dumpster feels far too led by a series of comedic circumstances than birthed out of the Hop Pop's intelligence and deduction, and while that may be deliberately subversive, it also means that the episode's promises of mystery don't go entirely fulfilled. (The ending reveal, too, that Sal was never wronged but merely adapted to changing demand to become an acclaimed sauce manufacturer is a bit predictable, though a nice note to end things on, continuing the season's surprisingly ongoing themes of "What you see on television isn't true to life.") Ultimately, then, while Hop Pop's slice of the episode presents a theoretical formula break from the show, it's far more flavor than substance.

The subplot of "Little Frogtown" doesn't do too much to bolster it either, with Anne, Sprig, and Polly waiting in an exceedingly tumultuous line to get into the Newtopian Arcade. It's a nonstarter of a premise that only exists as another chance for Anne to dig her own grave out of a lack of understanding her place in the world and relationship with other characters, accidentally traumatizing the line-cutting children in front of her and resulting in the gang being permanently banned from the arcade. It makes sense that the more intricate narrative of the episode prevents the subplot from really coming into its own—you wouldn't want something as comparatively meaningless to eat up too much of the overall runtime—but it feels very "take it or leave it," and I'd almost be more interested in if more time could've been granted to Hop Pop's side of proceedings to flesh out his narrative more.

Basically, there's nothing wrong with "Little Frogtown" at a molecular level, but it doesn't quite achieve the level of greatness that it could have. The end result, then, is a cute experiment which nonetheless could've afforded to be more experimental.

"Hopping Mall" is an equally-complicated episode for me. For the most part, it's about as standard of an episode as Amphibia could manage: Anne wants to get her mom the greatest souvenir from her travels that she can, and by a series of events, she signs up for Newtopia's annual Shopping Cart Smash Mash in hopes of winning a beautiful teapot. It's sweet to see Anne putting consideration into her mother back home, and those sorts of feelings become crucial to the episode's success by its ending, but up until that point, "Hopping Mall" glides by on a competent but uninvigorating idea: team Anne and Sprig up, sprinkle in some action, and keep things funny.

The addition of two new characters creates a bit more interest, though they don't do the plot much. Priscilla the Killa, a brawny newt and Smash Mash champion, and her daughter Pearl make for decent foils to Anne and Sprig, but they're ultimately just a necessary concoction for the narrative rather than feeling particularly exciting as one-offs. Priscilla is intimidating and callous, but sympathetic enough to ensure a trademark, feel-good Amphibia ending with the reveal that the teapot was the last piece of pottery crafted by her mother, causing Anne to relinquish it to her and make things right. (Pearl sweetly gives her a butterfly brooch that she made for Anne's generosity.)

It's the disarming ending, though, that cements "Hopping Mall" as a meaningful outing for the show. Sprig wakes up late at night to discover Anne standing on the hotel room balcony, fiddling with the butterfly brooch. Their ensuing dialogue regarding their relationships to their mothers is, perhaps, one of the most delicately sweet, heart-wrenching things that Amphibia has ever done, both in Anne tearfully acknowledging how much she wishes she could hear her mother's terrible singing voice again and especially with the revelation that Sprig's mother passed away before he could really cement what she looked or sounded like. He's merely left to wonder if he can really miss someone that he never knew... but if his tears after Anne lovingly hugs him are any indication, of course he can, and of course he does. It'll be interesting to see if Amphibia is going to explore these sorts of themes more in the future, but as it stands, it's a beautiful, fragile moment.

It makes sense why such a scene would exist at the end of an episode like "Hopping Mall": themes of mothers and parental loss make up the episode's backbone. It's only in that final scene, though, that things truly crystallize into something meaningful, and as with "Little Frogtown," a "take it or leave it" sentiment ultimately prevails over everything else. Is that a bad thing? Not necessarily, because Amphibia was able to reach such a compelling and complex place, but it makes me wish that the rest of the episode wouldn't have to be dwarfed in comparison. Of all the fates an episode could befall, though, having the perfect ending is probably the best thing you could hope for.

FINAL GRADES:
"Little Frogtown": B.
"Hopping Mall": B+.

For my review of the last two episodes, "Lost in Newtopia" and "Sprig Gets Schooled," CLICK HERE.

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